Snow and Raven
by TheFangirlRambles
Summary: Yuki or Aria? Who is this young woman who one evening suddenly appears on the Phantomhive estate? How does she know so much about it? And why is it that Ciel feels so comfortable with her around? And why is Sebastian so intent on having her? Rated T just in case. Slight SebOc. in future chapters. I'll probably change the summery at some point.


Prologue

A little girl ran, she must have been no more than five, as the cold autumn air whipped at her face and hair one October night in 1873. Her heart was pumping faster than the child had ever thought possible, and her tiny legs were burning from the effort of running away from the scary men chasing her, pushing her tiny body further and further. Her lungs were aching and burning just like her legs were, the cold air stabbing at them like little knives constricting the child's breathing.

The men chasing the little girl were amazed at her speed, even if they had given her a generous head start. The three burly men needed to catch the little imp and bring her back to their employer. They didn't know what a man like that would want with a five year-old girl, but they had not been hired to ask questions, simply to obey the orders given to them.

Said five year-old was getting tired, and her small feet stumbled occasionally. Tears of fear, dread and desperation were now running down her pale, round face, blurring her vision and staining her cheeks. In her desperate and tear- induced blindness she had not noticed that she had entered the woods that encompassed the beginning of a rather impressive estate. The little girl kept running, not noticing the sounds of fast approaching footsteps, neither the roots that peered over the earth at the foot of looming trees. As fate would have it, the little girl fell down, tripped by one of the trees' roots. She pushed herself up shakily, whimpering softly when she felt a stinging pain on her left knee; she had scraped it and it was now bleeding somewhat, making her cry a bit harder. The little girl contemplated if she should just give up and let the men catch up to her, but she shook her head furiously, discarding that idea; she couldn't let them capture her and take her back to that God awful place. So, the little girl got up and kept on running (slower this time for her knee ached painfully), she had seen the end of the woods, and a small flickering light that could only mean that someone was beyond the trees and that that someone would aid her and protect her. That slight sliver of hope pushed her forward and propelled her, stumbling and tottering, into the clearing.

Once she entered the clearing, she stopped momentarily to catch her breath and found, with the aid of the moonlight shining down, that she was in a garden. A beautiful garden well tended with apple trees and rosebushes and a small vegetable orchard in one corner. In between the different plants, there were gravel paths that lead to different places in the garden, like a small maze and a stone gazebo facing the East. Beyond the garden, and what impressed our little runner the most, was an enormous stone manor, with two towers greeting the night sky. _Why, it looks just like a palace from a fairy tale, _she thought in awe. She saw that the light that had seemed to her as safety beacon was coming from a small window on the second story of the mansion. The five year-old saw, much to her delight, that an ivy plant had latched itself onto the stones that made up the wall beneath the window, and she, being quite the climber for her young age, was rather confident that she would be able to shimmy up the trellis and into the room with the light before any of her persecutors could come into the clearing. She nodded to herself in approval, and made to walk in the direction of the ivy that would take her to safety.

But, as she was making her way through the gravel path, a tall dark figure suddenly appeared in front of the tiny girl, towering menacingly over her. The girl let out a shriek of surprise and terror, and fell on her behind, looking up at the man that had so abruptly showed himself before her. She backed away hastily, only standing up when she was a good distance away.

The man was tall, taller even than the average adult, and painfully beautiful. Even if most of him was covered by the shadows, the little girl could tell that this man before her could make most women (and most men) swoon and stare at him as he passed. He had inky black hair that seemed so very soft that it made her want to touch it and he was rather pale, too. The tall man was also impeccably dressed in a crisp black three pieced suit and white silk gloves hid his long fine fingers from the naked eye. Little did she know that those gloves hid more than delicate phalange, and harboured a very dark secret indeed. The tall man leaned towards her, and in the light of the full moon she saw that his eyes were the colour of wine, deep red and swirling. She was deeply entranced by them, her own deep blue staring up into crimson. So enthralled was she that she momentarily forgot her pursuers and the horrible fate that would befall her if she were to be captured.

The little girl felt rather uncomfortable though. The man was staring at her with such scrutiny and intensity that she felt he was staring into her very being, her very soul, that he could tell all her secrets by just looking at her and it terrified her. She also so something else in his wine-coloured eyes: it was hunger. But what scared her more about the man in front of her was his smile. It was a predatory smile, and it reminded the little girl of a cat about to attack a canary; she was starting to think that she had run into more trouble than she had before. She was about to turn tail and escape but then he spoke.

"What have we here? An intruder? And an incredibly young one at that," his voice was silk and low, inviting, and it made the child freeze in her tracks. "Who are you, child, and what are you doing here in my master's home?" he continued.

The little girl said nothing, fear gripping her vocal cords-

The man tried again.

"What is your name, little one?" he said, trying to sound kind and gentle, trying to get the little intruder to trust him.

Still, she said nothing.

"Young lady, it is rather rude to not introduce yourself, you know," his voice was still gentle but it had a hint of annoyance in it.

The little girl kept silent, looking at him with big blue eyes that held a tint of violet. Was the child mute? The man thought to himself. Surely not, if I heard her cries loud and clear. The man tried once more, growing rather impatient, his calm facade slowly dropping.

"A conversation is rather fruitless if it remains one-sided, girl. Now, please tell me your name, if not I will have to force it out of you," he said in a sickly sweet voice, with a sadistic smile splayed on his perfect lips.

The girl backed a bit further into the shadows of the trees in the woods behind her, and the man followed suit. A low, animalistic growl escaped from somewhere deep in his throat, his annoyance now evident and the hunger in his eyes increasing. Her instinct was telling her to run, but it seemed that she was stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea (quite literally it seemed, at least the devil part). Behind her were the woods and the three thugs that would no doubt take her to miserable and torture filled days, in front, she had a man who could probably bring as much pain and misery as the men chasing her, but who could also save her life. It was a dangerous wager, but one she would have to make, and soon; she could hear the men's footsteps and shouts getting closer and closer.

As she was contemplating this, the man kept his eyes on her. He wasn't very patient but she smelled so delicious, her soul seemed untainted and sweet, if not a bit muted, but still a true delicacy. He mused on whether he should just consume her then and there, but it would taste watery even if a soul like hers could sustain him for a couple of centuries. Still, she was young, and with time, her soul would mature and be even more delicious than anything he had ever tasted. The problem was, if he left her alone, some other demon might get his filthy hands on her, stealing _his _meal. He also was confronted with the problem of the three men chasing her,_ honestly how hard could it be to chase a five year- old girl? Pathetic humans, _he thought. The men would be easy enough to get rid of, but he did not fancy the idea of having to look after a child. After a few moments of deliberation, his eyes widened slightly in realisation and a smirk crept its way onto his lips. He was about to grab her arm when she spoke.

"Y-Yuki! My name is Yuki," she cried out. She had her arms splayed protectively over her face, cowering from the tall man clad in black. Said man retracted his hand, aware that it was that gesture that had frightened his prey.

"Snow," he murmured, "my, what an interesting name you have, Yuki," he finished, smirk still firmly in place.

"Please help me, sir," she begged, arms now at her sides, trembling slightly as she turned her big doe eyes up towards him.

"Of course I will help you, my dear child," the relief that washed over the girl's face was so evident and so filled with hope that it stirred up his hunger even more so than her scent. "However, you have to do something for me in return," he continued. At this, the girl's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"WH-What?" she stammered.

"In exchange for my help, you will have to let me mark you."

"Excuse me?" even if she was terrified and wasn't quite sure what being "marked" entailed, her voice was clear and strong.

"You heard me alright my dear Yuki. If you want my help, you will have to do this favour for me. I would hurry to decide if I were you, I fear your enemies are almost here," and indeed they were. The demon could see the three men already reaching the tree line, and it wouldn't be long before they saw his prey. He wouldn't lose the best soul he'd seen in centuries just because she couldn't decide whether to accept his mark or not.

"So if I let you mark me, you'll save me?" Yuki asked timidly. The demon nodded. "You promise?"

"I promise you that I will protect you if you accept my offer. And I always keep my promises," he said smirking widely. When he smiled, Yuki thought she saw fangs.

Taking a deep breath, she said "Alright."

"Very well then," the demos said, a feeling of triumph running through him.

He took his left glove off with his teeth, and on his hand Yuki saw a strange mark. It was a star enclosed by a circle, which was in turn trapped inside another larger circle which appeared to have lines crossing through it, and it was glowing. It was an eerie purple glow, and her eyes widened as he approached her, eyes glowing a swirling magenta and slit pupils, like a snake. The man, no, the monster, pulled the scruff of her nightgown down, and placed his hand with the glowing mark in the space between her shoulder blades. A searing pain went through her tiny body and she could feel his mark etching onto her skin. It was like fire coursing through her veins, pumping and hurting her enough to make her cry out. She had made a deal with a devil, one she wasn't sure she would ever be able to get out of.

_Meapte_ was the last thing she heard before it all went black.


End file.
